Claw

Claw (also known as Captain Claw) is a 1997 PC Platformer and overlooked Cult Classic. It tells the story of a certain cat pirate captain, named (can you guess it?) Nathaniel J. Claw and his quest to find the parts of the Amulet of Nine Lives. While the plot was mostly an excuse, the story gets interesting due to how interesting the characters in it are. Particularly Claw, whosesnarky comments makes pretty obvious who you are dealing with.

The game was generaly well received, being notisable for it's gorgeus looking graphics, great amosphere and fun gameplay; some even comparing it to other great titles like Mario Bros. or Crash Bandicoot. It had quite a few hand-drawn Cut Scenes (about 18 minutes in total), giving it a movie-esc feeling. It's also worth noticing that it's HARD AS HELL.

The game can no longer be bought, but it can be obtained through other ways.Due to the fact that it has a level editor, it's fanbase it's still active even to this day, making new levels and challanges.

Tropes used in Claw include:

All There in the Manual: There's a downloadable document called "Claw Design Document" which highlights a few things, for example why Catherine was kicked out of Claw's crew(for unnecessary violence, it says. You'd never tell judging by the game alone).
Anticlimax Boss: Le Rauxe is the one that inprisons Claw at the very start of the game, forcing him to get through the whole prison and battlements. You can beat him to a bloody pulp in less than 10 seconds.
Badass: Most of the cast, but Claw exemplifies this.
- Hell, Tiger Guards can block a Dynamite explosion with a dagger. If that's not badass, I don't know what is.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: If you keep Claw waiting, at least bring him something from the kitchen.
Breather Boss: If you've already managed to find out how to beat Aquatis he tends to be pretty easy to beat.
- Not to mention Le Rauxe who in many custom levels actually appears as a LITERAL Boss in Mook Clothing (Although not so much), because of his ease.
Blow You Away: Red Tail can control the wind. There's a reason you don't stand on the lower level of the arena no matter what.
Cool Boat
Demonic Spiders: Tiger Guards from last level can easily dodge all your sword attacks, require THREE of them to take down and are immune to Pistol and Dynamite. Not to mention they can deal up to 20 damage which is fifth of your health and tend to coopeate with certain Chameleons... And the sole level they appear in is infested with them.
- To a lesser extent, Peg Legs. They are very fragile(dying from crouch sword-normal sword combo while everything else requires two normal swords. For further notice, Crazy Hook from the same level requires five crouches to be put down) , but if they stun-lock you in their two-shot combo, you die. No exceptions. They can also avoid your pistol shots which makes them frustrating to take down if you want to jump on another platform.
- Bear Sailors too. Enjoy half of your hp gone in their hug. And they can repeat it just a second later!
Dismantled MacGuffin: Amulet of Nine Lives. Claw must find nine gems to assemble it.
Everything Is Trying to Kill You: Even seagulls will tackle you. "Bloody birds" indeed.
Flunky Boss: Gabriel will sic Red Tail Pirates at you from time to time.
Fire, Ice, Lightning: Claw can find Power Ups that enchant his sword with Elemental Powers: The Fire Sword, Frost Sword and Lightning Sword. Devs were planning to put Plasma Sword as well, but it never made it to the actual gameplay. An icon of it can still be found in map editor though.
Get Back Here Boss: Sort of when fighting Marrow. After chipping away his fourth part of health, he calls his parrot to transport him on the other side of the area, forcing you to facing this annoying bird three more times again.
Glass Cannon: Mice who deal 15 points of damage(at the very start of the game, no less), but are very predictable and being breathed on them kills them. More seriously, Bear Sailors with their enormous damage over time and the toughness of wet paper and Peg Legs with their two-hit combo and two-hit dying.
Goddamned Bats: More like Goddamned Seagulls and Goddamned Bomb Throwing Mice.
- and Goddamned Hollywood Chameleons in the last 2 levels.
Guide Dang It: Many people don't know that running for a longer time speeds Claw up. This is vital for collecting some treasures and can leave you wondering what should you do to get them. You can also jump on dynamite, jump on enemy's attacks... The list is long.
Guns Akimbo: Claw is sometimes portrayed like that. There are also Peg Legs and you'll hate them for that.
Harder Than Hard: Some custom levels will make you scream in endless frustration as you try to struggle between everything the creator can throw at you. The Temple doesn't even begin to describe the horror.
Hand Cannon: Red Tail's pistol is either this or magical in nature, because the projectile is huge.
Idle Animation
Inexplicably Awesome: We'll never get to know how Claw obtained his "Magic Claw" spell.
Implausible Fencing Powers: How does Hook Monkey manages to block a pistol shot with a small dagger is a mystery, ditto with Tiger Guards. Applies to all bosses as well. There's also Gabriel who will block everything with his arm(sans grabs), calmly reminding you that this is not how you beat him.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Furry Pirate Wizard.
Marathon Boss: Omar
More Dakka: Despite using a flintlock pistol, Claw can somehow pull off a fully automatic fire with it.
Mundane Utility: Dynamite can be used to access some previously-unaccessible places in expense of Claw's hp. This can lead to some amusing situations... It helps that the weapon itself is Awesome but Impractical when used for actual fighting.
- The "Cat Nip" power-up makes Claw run faster and jump higher which is invaluable for collecting some trickier treasures. You can also use it to basically avoid a fight with Gabriel at cost of precious points.
Our Mermaids Are Different: Half fish, half anthropomorphic cat. They can walk on dry land without a problem, and die when thrown into the water!
Palette Swap: Around half of the enemies are this.
Puzzle Boss: Aquatis is beaten by throwing dynamite into a barely visible hole in the wall.
- Gabriel and Omar too. To a lesser extent, Marrow as well.
Sword and Gun: Claw. Also Red Tail(though they are daggers actually) and Marrow.
That One Boss: Formerly Wolvington. Monolith later released a patch that reduced his strongest attack to only one sixth of its original strength. Quite amusingly, now he's only slightly more difficult than Le Rauxe.
- Arguably, Marrow(whose gun hurts like hell and there's also that parrot of his) and Red Tail(with his wide variety of attacks and unfriendly environment around) count as well. There's also Omar(but he's a Final Boss) and Catherine(but she's a "Wake-Up Call" Boss).
That One Level: The Temple which is infested with Demonic Spiders and Goddamned Bats, as well as being choke-full of traps. The Cliffs as well, though not to the same ridiculous degree.
Too Awesome to Use: Magic Claw one-shots everything in the game but bosses, including Tiger Guards, but the resources found are so scarce that you'll use it very rarely(unless you're conserving it for this last level...)
"Wake-Up Call" Boss: If you think that after defeating Le Rauxe you'll fight someone with only slightly higher difficulty, think again.
- No, seriously: Some people actually put Catherine on par in difficulty with OMAR.